What? You didn’t know that Nuuk is the principal settlement in Greenland,( a province of Denmark in the Western hemisphere)? Have you happened to notice how very much we seem to be resembling that particular location just lately? But then, of course, the prognosticators are teasing us with follow-up forecasts ranging up into the fifties some time later this week. Good Grief ! The cold is bad enough, but when it gets mixed with rain, freezing rain and sleet, we’re talkin’ Slip–n-Slide City as well as “Is your insurance coverage comprehensive?” Anyone not believing in climate change is just not paying attention.
One responsible father of my acquaintance on Facebook and beyond, commented the other day that he was wondering what he was doing even THINKING about driving out into the white-out to take a third grader halfway across the county to play basketball. Turned out that he and the third grader (probably with major whining) did NOT set off , with or without sled dogs, for the evening’s sport. Hope that the NBA scouts were not disappointed.
The Garfield Band Extravaganza was pretty well attended, snow or no snow; the jazz band entertained the cookie-n-cocoa crowd. Elementary musicians strutted their chilly stuff later on in the afternoon to warm interest…and leftover cookies.
I got out and sorta shoveled my driveway–the new-ish crooked-handle snow shovel is lots easier to deal with than the old straight-handle one. I mostly just shove the white stuff along then stop and pitch the pile of weighty flakes aside. I cleared a path for the postal worker (They’re not just mailmen anymore)so that I can get that big check that the scammer told me that I would be getting as soon as I paid the delivery fee. Right.
The porch kitties are spending plenty of time in the warm boxes out there, and giving thanks every day, I hope, for the heated water dish delivered by their fans
I have also been out refilling the birdfeeders, sometimes two or three times a day. They are really suckin’ that stuff down. Well, why wouldn’t they? Every other source of nutrition is under about six inches of scenic precipitation. My “water feature” fountain in back of the garage is still pumping out there but it is now encased in an ice bubble that can’t be very easy to access. Luckily, I had recently hauled in a couple of 40-lb. Bags of mixed bird food and black oil sunflower seed (Did I have any birds give me a hand–or a wing–with lifting that stuff? Not a chance.). Have to stop and clean off the lip of the feeders also, the seeds keep getting covered up by the snow. Squirrels are on their own but they are hanging around beneath the feeders too. Walking in the morning is definitely challenging; I am in the street a good deal of the time. Traffic or no traffic, it’s safer and faster than trying to use the sidewalks. Sorry about that , early drivers, but I do have front and back lights and I do not walk when the temps get down into single digits. I may be crazy, but I’m not stupid (Or maybe it’s the other way around.)
The National Geographic is doing ice core research up around Nuuk. Maybe they’ll be here next.
